Kubrador and Twilight Dancers

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) begins tomorrow. I won't have the time or money to watch many movies, but I'll try and see The Bet Collector (Kubrador) and Twilight Dancers, if only because I have not seen—and will not be seeing—any Filipino films on the big screen for a long time.

I've heard and read quite a bit about Kubrador—the usual "good movie but no one watched it"—but not much about Twilight Dancers, maybe because, as I just found out, its world premiere will happen at TIFF. Without seeing either film, I think it's rather ironic that the two films are going to be shown at TIFF at the same time. One is about a woman engaged in an illegal activity but earns very little (because she never takes off her clothes?), while the other is about a man engaged in an illegal activity and earns quite a lot (because he takes off his clothes).

One other thing worth mentioning is that the TIFF organizers have noted that, "The macho dancer story has become a small genre within Filipino cinema." And if you put this together with the fact that last year's lone Filipino entry was The Masseur (Masahista), I wouldn't be surprised if some Canadians start thinking that all Filipino men are as good-looking as the macho dancers they've seen on the big screen. Actually, I wouldn't mind being mistaken for one =)

For more about the "the most important film festival after Cannes and the largest and most successful public festival in the world," see the TIFF Group's website.


Category: Books and Movies